Celtics need Rondo to bounce back from shaky Game 4

Jim Fenton

Wednesday

May 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMMay 26, 2010 at 9:58 AM

Boston tries to close out the Orlando Magic again on Wednesday night in Florida after letting a winnable game slip away on Monday. Point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been one of the best postseason players in the NBA this spring, had a subpar game at the offensive and defensive ends.

His picture is on the cover of this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated with the words, “Rondo Power.’’

With some spectacular play during the Boston Celtics’ postseason run this spring, Rajon Rondo has hit the big time, which includes a cover story in a prominent national magazine.

The words of praise about Rondo have been flowing throughout the regular season and into the playoffs as the fourth-year point guard has emerged as one of the best at his position while playing a lead role for a championship contender.

On Monday night, though, the magic-carpet ride that Rondo has been on hit a speed bump, and it helped cost the Celtics a chance to sweep the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.

Rondo had one of his rare subpar postseason performances in Game 4, failing to attack at the offensive end and being unable to contain Magic guard Jameer Nelson at the defensive end.

It was the kind of game Rondo has rarely had in the playoffs, and the end result _ a 96-92 Magic win in overtime that allowed Orlando to cut the series deficit to 3-1 _ showed how much the Celtics have come to depend on him.

When the series resumes tonight at Amway Arena in Orlando (8:30, TV: ESPN, radio: WEEI-850 AM), the Celtics are going to need improved play by Rondo in order to prevent the Magic from creeping even closer in a series that once stood at 3-0.

Rondo has earned all the accolades that have come his way this season. He set franchise records for steals and assists in a season, made the All-NBA Defensive First Team and finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

On a team with three potential future Hall of Famers in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the 24-year-old Rondo has stepped forward and assumed a greater leadership role.

The Celtics have come to lean heavily on the play of Rondo at both ends of the floor, and they are going to struggle when he struggles.

That was the case in Game 4 when Rondo had just nine points on 3-for-10 shooting, dished out eight assists and grabbed only three rebounds with three turnovers in 43 minutes.

The Celtics’ offense was out of sorts, especially in the second half and overtime when a winnable game slipped away, forcing Boston to step on a plane and head to central Florida on Tuesday afternoon rather than look forward to the NBA Finals.

From the start, Rondo seemed to struggle with his offense and wasn’t taking it to the Magic as he did in the previous games in the series. Getting into early foul trouble didn’t help matters, either.

Rondo’s counterpart, Nelson, had a 23-point, nine-assist outing that put a spark into a lethargic Magic offense. Nelson was getting past Rondo, who had to deal with picks all over the court, and either scoring or setting up Dwight Howard (32 points) inside.

“They do it every game,’’ said Coach Doc Rivers of the picks on Rondo. “That’s nothing new. We’ve done a pretty good job up until (Game 4). It’s not just Rondo, though. He has to fight through them better and get into the body better, but our bigs have to show better.’’

Rondo has played a lot of minutes in the playoffs (41:58 per game) and is the only member of the Celtics averaging better than 40 per game.

He departed the bench with 1:16 remaining in the first half on Monday and went to the locker room, accompanied by strength and conditioning coach Bryan Doo, with what was described as muscle spasms.

“I’m fine,’’ Rondo told reporters later. “I just didn’t play well. I’ve got to do a better job of getting around the pick. Jameer got to the paint and made plays for his team.’’

Rondo played all but 1:10 of the final 29 minutes, but his inability to get the Celtics offense flowing and his problems with Nelson were glaring.

“I was more aggressive and not worried about mistakes,’’ said Nelson. “I think the first three games, I was worried about swinging the ball and getting everybody involved.’’

The Magic spent three games unable to solve the Celtics’ defense, and in Game 4 they found an answer with the Nelson-Howard combination. It will be up to the Celtics, with Rondo playing a prominent role in the equation, to solve that in Game 5 this evening.

“It’s very frustrating,’’ said Rondo. “We didn’t get to close out, but we have got to move on to Game 5. We gave them confidence, and now we’ve got to try to take it back away. They’re pretty confident at home, so we’ve got to get off to a good start on the road.’’

Rondo helped get the Celtics off to good starts in the first three games, and his team jumped to a 3-0 series lead. If he is unable to do so tonight, a series that looked like it would be over quick becomes very interesting.

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